Jordan's King Arrives in Damascus to Congratulate New President

New Syrian President Bashar Assad met King Abdullah II of Jordan in Damascus Wednesday, who had come to congratulate him on his assumption of office a

New Syrian President Bashar Assad met King Abdullah II of Jordan in Damascus Wednesday, who had come to congratulate him on his assumption of office as president of Syria, officials said.

The two met face-to-face following a meeting attended by their delegations, which included Syrian Vice Presidents Abdel Halim Khaddam and Zuheir Masharqa, and Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb, and armed forces chief of staff, General Mohammed Malkawi.

No details of their talks was immediately available.

The king is the second Arab leader, after Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, to be received by Assad since he took the oath of office Monday, succeeding his father Hafez Assad who died on June 10th.

A top-ranking Jordanian official last month predicted that Syrian-Jordanian ties would "certainly take off" and grow warmer between Abdullah and Bashar than existed under their late fathers.

"They belong to the same generation and have the same way of looking at the world and at the need to modernize their countries," the official told AFP in Amman.

Abdullah left Damascus to return to Amman after his meeting - DAMASCUS (AFP)